Teacup Tuesday

This is my first Teacup Tuesday and I hope you enjoy my cup ~

I went to see a dear friend of mine in Cherryvale, Kansas this summer.   She took me to a couple of antique shops in Coffeyville and I found this cup at one of them.  It was another "love at first sight" cup for me.  You'll see more of those in the future, I'm sure.  I love the gold detail and the rich burgundy color. 

My friend starting collecting cups after she moved away from here.  She said I inspired her,  I gave her a cup as a going away present.  When we got to the antique shop I went one way and she went the other, we met in the middle with tea cups!  It was a precious moment.   She now has 5 cups and I have over 50!  I try to stop, really, I do.  But then I find something like this.

 I don't think it's worth a lot of money, but thats not the point.  It's beautiful and feminine and romantic and, what else can I say?  I drank from it only once, Stash Chai Spice Tea, a favorite of my friend and I.  I won't do it again though because even though I very gently wiped the saucer I knocked some of the gold paint off! 

The mark on the bottom says Lefton China - Hand Painted.  I hadn't really paid attention to the mark until now.  I looked it up on line and found that it is collectable.  They produced china and other collectibles for over 60 years.   Good to know.

   For now my pretty lady is back on her perch, and until next time, have a Happy Teacup Tuesday!  If you would like to see other beautiful teacups please visit http://artfulaffirmations.blogspot.com/

Letter Ladies Tea

My August tea party for the "letter ladies" was a success.   11 ladies attended and almost all wore hats.   Not all of the hats were traditional tea party hats, but hats none the less!  It was the spirit behind the hats the mattered.   I just loved Rachel's cowboy hat - she put a flower in it just for me!   Sorry I did not get a picture that.  Speaking of pictures, I have a few but they are not the best quality.  Honestly, after all the preparations, I didn't even think about taking pictures until it was almost too late!

This my friend Debbie in her beautiful Elsie Massey hat.  It just fits her doesn't it? 

We enjoyed the usual tea party fare:   Egg Salad sandwiches, Chicken Salad made with pineapple and toasted almonds that I put inside of partially hollowed out rolls, zuchinni bread with apricot jam, mini french vanilla cupcakes with lavendar frosting, and wonderful blueberry cobbler.   The blueberry cobbler recipe came from Angela at  http://teawithfriends.blogspot.com/    It turned out awesome, I was a little afraid to put the punch cups in the oven, but they did fine and nothing broke!  And they really were a hit.  Thank you Angela for sharing that recipe.   Here are pictures of the food, again sorry for the quality.  

  

  

And guess what?  I almost forgot about the tea!  I had the water hot and ready, sugar cubes and honey, tea cups and spoons, but no tea!   At the last minute I put some assorted tea bags on the cart.  Bad show really!   I had intended to brew some very nice Strawberry tea that I purchased at Bernideen's,  you can visit her here:   http://bernideensteatimeblog.blogspot.com/    We used tea bags instead and the ladies chose their own flavor.

Excited!

Yes, I am hosting a tea party this coming Saturday!  I am so excited.  This tea will be for a ministry I am loving, the "letter ladies".   We get together once a month to write letters of encouragement to the pastors of our fellowship, Victory World Outreach.  I am not positive but I think we are writing about 60 letters a month.   It is a blessing to be used by God to encourage and bless others.   I've been wanting to bless these beautiful ladies with a tea for a long time.  Here I go - details will follow.